At the Lindenwood Learning Academy, we believe that course design and class cultures characterized by rigor, inclusiveness, support, and engagement elevate learning for students of all backgrounds, abilities, identities, life circumstances, and levels of preparedness. The R.I.S.E. Project, which launches in August, is an academic initiative that seeks to establish a shared framework for effective teaching and learning and to support faculty in enhancing rigor, inclusiveness, support, and engagement in their courses. During the 2021-22 academic year, the Office of the Provost and the Learning Academy will partner with deans and designated faculty to bring R.I.S.E. Roundtables, Student Spotlights, and R.I.S.E. Resources to faculty across campus.
Learn more about the R.I.S.E. Project
R.I.S.E. Scholars – apply by May 14th
To bring the R.I.S.E. framework to faculty, each academic college will have a faculty member who serves as a R.I.S.E. Scholar – a resident expert, discussion leader, and consultant who provides support to colleagues. R.I.S.E. Scholars will facilitate discussions, share research regarding how each R.I.S.E. characteristic improves student outcomes, and lead exploration of teaching strategies that boost rigor, inclusiveness, support, and engagement. R.I.S.E. Scholars will be available to discuss ideas, suggest resources, share materials, observe classes, review Canvas courses, collect informal feedback from students, and to support their colleagues in learning and applying relevant pedagogical strategies. Scholars will receive course releases and stipends.
Interested in being a R.I.S.E. Scholar? Please carefully review the scholar responsibilities, benefits, characteristics, and application requirements here.
R.I.S.E. Roundtables and Student Spotlights
R.I.S.E. Roundtable discussions about rigor, inclusiveness, support, and engagement will take place within college faculty meetings throughout the 2021-22 academic year. We’ll focus on rigor and inclusiveness in the Fall semester and support and engagement in the Spring semester. Led by the college’s R.I.S.E. Scholar, discussions will entail an exploration of the characteristic, related research, and research-based teaching and learning strategies to enhance the characteristic in course design and/or instruction. Additionally, student spotlight presentations in full faculty meetings will help to illuminate the experiences and needs of various student populations.
R.I.S.E. Resources
For those who want to learn more beyond roundtable sessions or who cannot attend faculty meetings, R.I.S.E. resources will be available on-demand. Faculty are also invited to form professional learning communities to spend more time learning alongside and from colleagues and will be able to find resources for this.
R.I.S.E. Research Study
The Learning Academy will be designing a research study focused on connecting faculty development to student learning and related student outcomes. For this study, we will need faculty members to be involved both as research participants and as co-creators of knowledge to help us discover if and how changes to pedagogy impact student learning and student experiences. We envision this research project as a collaborative basis for exploring grant funding, scholarly presentation, and publication in this area.
R.I.S.E. Recognition
At the close of the academic year, the Learning Academy R.I.S.E. Awards will recognize faculty who have shown remarkable dedication to designing courses and creating classroom cultures that include and inspire all students.
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